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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25147840">We Were Friends</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/minweasel/pseuds/minweasel'>minweasel</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Legacies (TV 2018)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Hope gets out of Malivore, Humor if you squint, It's only been a month so no Jandon, No angst here, She has a little bit of fun with it, She tells everyone who she is, at least that's what I'm going for</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 03:02:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,162</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25147840</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/minweasel/pseuds/minweasel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Hope only spent a month in Malivore before she managed to escape. When she does, she makes her way back to school and immediately tells everybody who she is but decided to have a little bit of fun with it.<br/>__</p><p>"It's just a girl," Alaric said confused, stepping out into the light. A few others made their way out of the darkness too but Hope's eyes were trained on Ahim.</p><p>"Oh thank god it's you, I thought you were a monster" she exclaimed, relief washing over her as her eyes met Alaric's, "Also rude! Since when was I 'just a girl'?"</p><p>They looked up at her in sheer confusion and she suddenly remembered that their memories had been taken from them.</p><p>"Oh right!" She exclaimed, "You don't remember who I am. Sorry, I forgot about that little detail."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hope and The Super Squad</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>143</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. 'It's Just A Girl'</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This chapter is mostly just for set up but I hope you enjoy anyways.</p><p>A few things to note with this FIC:<br/>- Rafael never turned into a wolf before Hope went into Malivore, just to make the plot a bit easier.<br/>- Some people who weren't supposed to be at school over the summer are there for the same reason.<br/>- As I said in the tags, NO JANDON!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As Malivore starting spitting goo, both she and Landon realized that they really needed to come up with some sort of plan here.</p><p>"Any brilliant ideas because I think we're running out of time," Landon exclaimed, pointing towards the bottomless pit that was Malivore. Her eyes followed his outstretched arm and she gazed down at the pit when suddenly, it all clicked. She figured it out. She was the loophole.</p><p>She turned back to Landon as a look of sudden realization dawned on her face.</p><p>"Just one. but you're gonna hate it... Kiss me." And he did.</p><p>Truth be told, she hated it too. She didn't want to do it, but she had to. She had to protect the people she loved. </p><p>She kissed him and she wanted to hold onto the memory. She savored it like it was the only thing keeping her alive, despite the fact that she would surely be dead in minutes.</p><p>She pulled away and Landon's confusion and bewilderment was evident on his face. "I didn't hate that at all."</p><p>"Not that," She said, not liking what she was about to do, "this." And she snapped his neck and he fell to the floor. But she knew he would come back.</p><p>Now came the part that she would hate. She had to call Dr. Saltzman. She had to make sure that every last piece of evidence that she had ever walked the halls of the Salvatore school would be gone.</p><p>She hated every second of the call. There were tears streaming down her face and from the wetness of Dr. Saltzman's voice, she was sure he was fairing no better.</p><p>"This is the part you tell me you're proud of me," she said, voice watery and eyes averted.</p><p>"You know I'm proud of you. You know it," His voice was shaky and she knew that this was just as hard on him as it was on her, he was the closest thing she had to a father.</p><p>She thought that would be the worst of it, but when the time to say her last goodbye actually came, she found that was the hardest part. Malivore was starting to boil over.</p><p>"I gotta go," she said, glancing over at Malivore. She sounded casual like all she was doing was going across the street to grab some coffee when really these would be some of the last words she would ever say.</p><p>"Hope, listen to me, wait!" He yelled into the phone. The panic was evident in his voice.</p><p>"Not an option," She said because it really wasn't, "promise me you're gonna do what I said." She got no response so she repeated herself. "Promise me!"</p><p>"Alright, alright. I promise."</p><p>And at that, she hung up. She didn't think that she would be able to leave if she actually had to say the words 'goodbye' so she thought it best to leave it there.</p><p>She deleted the call and put the phone down on the ground next to Landon's lifeless form. He would be okay. She knew he would be okay.</p><p>Then Clarke stood up. She thought he would try to stop her, but as he soon explained, he wanted Malivore gone as much as she did.</p><p>As she prepared herself to jump, an idea struck her and she cast a spell on Clarke. It was a mimicking spell.</p><p>"You don't have to do this," He said.</p><p>"I know, but it's the only part I'm actually enjoying." And that was the truth. As much as she tried to put on a brave face, she didn't want to die, she wanted to live. She wanted to be with Landon, spend time with the twins, train with Alaric. But that was over. At least she could have one final victory.</p><p>And they jumped. The darkness consumed them.</p><p>__</p><p>When she opened her eyes, she was surrounded by darkness. And Clarke.</p><p>As much as she hated to admit it, he did make her time there more tolerable. but that didn't mean that she wanted to stay. So when she got her chance, she left.</p><p>She knew he was telling the truth when he said that if she helped him get out that she would never see him again, but she couldn't take the risk. She had to get out. The darkness was slowly driving herself insane.</p><p>__</p><p>And then she woke up. She was in a similar position to when she had woken up beside Alaric and Landon after chasing the merman. She was lying face-up on the grass, staring at the sky. She did it. She got out.</p><p>She stood up, muscles sore and eyes still a little fuzzy as they adjusted to the light.</p><p>She wiped off her clothing and started walking towards the gates. She knew she had a long journey because she didn't have the strength to do a transportation spell at the moment and figured she would be best off with a bus. Unfortunately, the closest bus stop was a mile away so she had to do a lot of walking.</p><p>She soon arrived at the bus stop of a nothing town and bought a ticket to mystic falls. Hopefully, she would regain some of her strength along the way.</p><p>She found it was around quarter past ten in the morning when she looked up at her watch. The first bus wouldn't come for a few minutes.</p><p>She then did a double-take. Her watch read 'July 17th'. As far as she remembered, she had jumped into Malivore in mid-June. It had been nearly a month. Time flies when you're in a pit of goo.</p><p>By the time she got off of her bus in Mystic Falls, she felt a whole lot stronger, pretty much back to her normal self. </p><p>She made her way towards the school on foot and when she reached the woods surrounding it, she shifted into a wolf. The woods just felt so familiar and inviting. She couldn't resist.</p><p>__</p><p>"Josie, Lizzie," Alaric called out, "I got an alert in the woods." he had set up sensors in the forest surrounding the school incase a new monster turned up after a month of nothing.</p><p>They both turned around in their chairs in the cafeteria to look back at him. The cafeteria was nearly empty and the only people who were there besides the twins were Landon, Rafael, MG, and Kaleb. </p><p>Lizzie had spent the first month of the holidays in Europe with her mother but came back just a few short days ago. Rafael had been spending week on/week off switching between the Salvatore school and his newfound father. MG and Kaleb came back to the school every weekend and had been spending the weekdays with Kaleb's family for a change of scenery. Josie and Landon had been the only two who stayed behind the whole time. There were a few other students there but they didn't really know them.</p><p>"You mean from a monster?" Landon called out from beside Josie.</p><p>"I mean it's not a full moon and the figure was similar to a wolf so I assume so."</p><p>They all murmured their agreement and made a move to stand up.</p><p>"What are you doing?" He asked suspiciously.</p><p>"What does it look like we're doing?" Lizzie asked as if it was obvious. Clearly it wasn't so she explained, "We are joining you. Duh."</p><p>"No, I just came to tell you that I'm going but you guys are staying-"</p><p>"Yeah no," Lizzie started and the rest murmured their agreement.</p><p>"We're coming," Josie said calmly, "Malivore closed a month ago and we have no clue why. You might want our help."</p><p>He still wasn't convinced but they were already out the door so he conceded defeat and let them come, actually he let them lead the way</p><p>They marched towards the wood. They walked around aimlessly for a few minutes before they heard a noise coming from their left and followed. It definitely sounded like a wolf. They moved quickly and were very quiet. </p><p>They ended up close to the old mill at the edge of the school when the ruffling of leaves and snapping of branches finally stopped.</p><p>They all stood at the lining of the trees waiting for something to present itself.</p><p>__</p><p>Hope had been running for nearly an hour when she heard sounds. She thought it might be a monster so as soon as she heard them, she made her way to the old mill where she knew she had hidden a spare set of clothing under a loses floorboard.</p><p>Still in wolf form, she made her way into the old mill and shifted the wood beneath her. She opened the bag inside of the little pocket beneath the ground and pulled out the clothing she had left there onto the ground beside her.</p><p>She quickly shifted back to human form and pulled on the clothes before leaving the mill.</p><p>She stood there beside the building for minutes, waiting for the figure to show themselves.</p><p>Eventually, she figured that it wasn't going to so she made her way out into the light herself, hoping that it would see her and proceed come out of the dark.</p><p>But she neither heard nor saw any monster. What she heard was Alaric's voice.</p><p>"It's just a girl," he said confused, stepping out into the light. A few others made their way out of the darkness too but her eyes were trained on him.</p><p>"Oh thank god it's you, I thought you were a monster" she exclaimed, relief washing over her as her eyes met Alaric's, "Also rude! Since when was I 'just a girl'?"</p><p>They looked up at her in sheer confusion and she suddenly remembered that their memories had been taken from them.</p><p>"Oh right!" She exclaimed, "You don't remember who I am. Sorry, I forgot about that little detail."</p><p>"Uh...," Josie started, Hope tore her eyes away from Dr. Saltzman and gave Josie her full attention, "Who are you?"</p><p>Hope wondered how best to answer that.</p><p>"Well, I think that's part of a bigger discussion we need to have, Josie," She said kindly, although there was a hint of teasing behind her voice, "probably a conversation for when you're all sitting down. Should we go to you're office?"</p><p>That last question was aimed at Dr. Saltzman and he just looked even more confused. No one said anything until Josie piped up with another question.</p><p>"How do you know my name?" Josie asked, suspicion evident in her tone of voice.</p><p>"Well, for starters, I've known you since I was like seven, and-"</p><p>"You what?" Josie exclaimed, cutting her off. She was growing increasingly confused.</p><p>"Like I said," Hope said, words punctuated with the hint of a smirk, "You're office, Dr. Saltzman?"</p><p>They still looked like they had just seen a ghost and Hope just laughed.</p><p>"Or perhaps we could go to Landon and Rafael's room?" They gave her a bewildered look, not expecting for her to know their names too, or that they shared rooms, "Or you're's MG. I'm not sure who you room with but I'm sure they wouldn't mind."</p><p>She watched a few mouths dropped as she finished and just chuckled to herself.</p><p>"Who are you?" Josie repeated.</p><p>"My name is Hope," She said, deciding that she might have to reveal a little bit of information about herself before getting them to agree to talk to her, "And I really think you might want to sit down for this so if you're not going to let me into the school, can we at least sit in the old mill?"</p><p>Alaric gave her a questioning look before finally agreeing. He signaled for the group to follow him as they all walked into the building next to them. </p><p>They all sat down on the couch and surrounding chairs, leaving her to sit in the uncomfortable armchair. With them all sitting on one side and her on the other, this felt rather a lot like an interrogation but she decided that she would have some fun with this.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for reading, let me know what you think so far, the comments really do help :)</p><p>{When I say that hope is going to 'have some fun with this' I mean that she is going to have to explain who she was to each of them and is probably going to embarrass them along the way.}</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. 'The Great Evil's Spawn'</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hope talks to the group about who she is and her... Origin Story I guess...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter is a bit shorter than I would have liked because I split it in two. It would have taken a lot longer to write if I put this chapter and the next one together and I have too short of an attention span for that. So sorry about that :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Who are you?" Josie repeated.</p><p>"My name is Hope," She said, deciding that she might have to reveal a little bit of information about herself before getting them to agree to talk to her, "And I really think you might want to sit down for this so if you're not going to let me into the school, can we at least sit in the old mill?"</p><p>Alaric gave her a questioning look before finally agreeing. He signaled for the group to follow him as they all walked into the building next to them. </p><p>They all sat down on the couch and surrounding chairs, leaving her to sit in the uncomfortable armchair. With them all sitting on one side and her on the other, this felt rather a lot like an interrogation but she decided that she would have some fun with this.</p><p>They spent around a minute in silence before Lizzie finally spoke up.</p><p>"Well, this is fun." She drawled sarcastically. Hope shot her a death glare but there was no real malice behind it.</p><p>"So..." Hope started, in an intentionally awkward tone, "How much do you remember? Wait, no. Do you remember me at all?"</p><p>They all shook their heads and she sighed. This was going to be a long night. </p><p>She was about to start talking when Landon butted in, "I don't remember you, but uhh... I've seen you before?"</p><p>"What?" She asked, mildly annoyed that he interrupted the beginning of her epic speech.</p><p>"Every time I die, I see you."</p><p>"I've been gone a month! How many times have you died!?"</p><p>"Eleven." He said, looking down at the floor and avoiding everyone's gaze. They all looked a little surprised at the news but Hope just laughed.</p><p>"See this is what happens when I'm not here!" She said with a shake of the head.</p><p>"Who are you?" Josie said for the third time that night.</p><p>"Oh right... speech time!" Hope said, clapping her hands together, still not really knowing how she was going to do this.</p><p>"Uhh, well, I guess I should probably start with my name. I'm Hope Mikaelson. I-"</p><p>"What do you mean you're Hope Mikaleson?" Alaric asked voice tinged with a hint of fear at the name even though there was a certain air of familiarity to it.</p><p>"Well I mean when I was born, my parents named me Hope Mikaelson," She said dryly, "Well actually they named me Hope <em>Andrea </em>Mikaleson but that's beside the point." She punctuated the last sentence with a curious tilt of the head.</p><p>"No, I mean how are you a Mikaelson?" Alaric asked, "I know the family and none of them are you."</p><p>"Well that's because I nose-dived into Malivore and erased all your memories of me," she drawled sarcastically. When everyone's eye's popped out of their heads, she realized she had gotten ahead of herself.</p><p>"Sorry, I'm jumping ahead in the story! As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted," Hope said, giving Alaric a pointed look, "I am Hope Mikaelson. Klaus Mikaelson and Hayley's daughter."</p><p>A few of them looked like they wanted to say something but decided against it and let her continue.</p><p>"You actually nicknamed me the Great Evil's Spawn," Hope added looking in Lizzie's direction as if it were an afterthought.</p><p>"Sorry," Lizzie said and it sounded genuine. Surprisingly that was the weirdest part of the night so far.</p><p>"Don't be. I never told you but I thought it was funny," Hope said giving Lizzie a slight smile. She paused for a second and continued, "That means that I was born a witch through my grandmother - Ester, that I was born a Vampire through my Dad and a Wolf through both my parents. That makes me a Tribrid."</p><p>She sensed a few questions on their way so she decided to answer them before they came, they would just slow her down.</p><p>"Obviously to become a wolf you have to trigger your curse and to become a vampire you have to die with Vampire blood in your system so I was born a normal witch."</p><p>"When I turned 7, I came to this school under the name Hope Marshall so I didn't attract too much attention and I tried to fit in. But.." She paused for dramatic effect, "When I turned 15, my Mom was kidnapped and I'm guessing you know that she was killed?"</p><p>They all nodded solemnly.</p><p>"Yeah, well after that, I triggered my curse. It was an accident. But because of the hollow, I wasn't going to make it through my first full moon. That night, you two," She motioned towards the twins, "Siphoned the magic from me and put it into my Dad to save me. Then he died too."</p><p>As much as she had been enjoying this conversation, she felt tears welling up in her eyes at this statement but fought them back, knowing the hurt would pass.</p><p>"So after that, I couldn't exactly go back to school and pretend to be Hope Marshall when I was a Wolf-Witch hybrid and it became common knowledge who I really was."</p><p>They all nodded and she let them digest this information. She looked over at them and saw that Josie was giving her a thoughtful look. When Hope met her eyes, she expected Josie to look away but her look only became more pointed. It wasn't a defensive or unkind look, it was a curious one.</p><p>"That's why you jumped into Malivore isn't it?" Josie asked, getting the attention of everyone surrounding them, "Because you're a tribrid?"</p><p>"Yes," Hope said, rather surprised that Josie had connected the dots, "With my blood, I thought that maybe I could close Malivore before the literal supernatural apocalypse."</p><p>"Why didn't it work?" Josie asked, her brows scrunched together.</p><p>"But I never became a full tribrid," Hope answered, "well at least I think that's why. I never killed Malivorebut I was obviously dangerous to it which is why it spat me out."</p><p>"How would you go about doing that?" MG asked, "becoming a full tribrid I mean."</p><p>"Well, I was born with vampire blood in my system so all I would have to do is die and I would come back as a vampire. That's why my blood can make hybrids."</p><p>They all nodded in understanding and Hope just took it all in. After a whole month of being alone with Clarke, she was finally free. She was with her friends, she was with Dr. Saltzman, she was with Landon. She was happy.</p><p>They didn't even know who she was but she knew them and she was with them and that was enough for her.</p><p>She was rather curious as to how this whole memory wiping thing worked so she decided to voice her question.</p><p>"Out of curiosity, in all of the memories that I was a part of, am I just missing? Like are you're memories re-written so that it makes sense that I wouldn't be there or am I just... gone?"</p><p>"Well for me at least you're just missing," Landon said, "I'm not sure if this is because of you but I have gaps in my memory where I know there must have been someone with me but I knew there wasn't. Like when we were at Malivore, I'm assuming you were the one that saved me?"</p><p>"Yes, that was me."</p><p>"It was your blood that I drank to heal my bullet wound, wasn't it? Because it was infused with Malivore, your blood healed me." Josie piped up, her brows still scrunched together in contemplation.</p><p>"Yeah, that was my blood." </p><p>She tore her gaze away from Josie after a while and looked in Alaric's direction, "So Dr. Saltzman, who exactly do you think you went on all you're recruiting missions with? Who exactly were you training with at 8 o'clock in the morning nearly every day? Were you just fighting the air?"</p><p>He just looked stunned as the wave of realization hit him.</p><p>"Actually, don't answer that," Hope rushed to say, "the image of you waving sticks at thin air is much more amusing."</p><p>"Please tell me we were friends," Lizzie said, as she tried and failed to stifle her laugh.</p><p>"Well..." Hope started, snorting with laughter, about to tell Lizzie that it was a little more complicated than that but Alaric butted in.</p><p>"Do you want to take this to my office?" He suggested, "it might be more comfortable."</p><p>"Finally," Hope said, not even waiting for the reactions of the others before getting up at marching towards the door.</p><p>They all stood up to follow her and Josie leaned into Lizzie's ear laughing, "I feel like you two would have gotten along."</p><p>__</p><p>They all made their way through the school and Hope seemed to lead the way. It felt natural the way that they all marched along behind her towards Dr. Saltzman's office. She even knew the spell to open the room. Not even the twins knew it, they just siphoned it away every time.</p><p>They all re-arranged themselves on the surrounding chairs and couches.</p><p>"So..." Lizzie drawled impatiently, "were we friends?"</p><p>"And here was me thinking you had evolved Lizzie," Hope said sarcastically, referring to when Lizzie had seemed genuinely sorry for nicknaming her 'the great evil's spawn'.</p><p>"Rude!" Lizzie said with narrowed eyes.</p><p>"Anyways," Hope said, giving Lizzie a mischievous smile, "We were friends..."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks so much for reading, I'm sorry this one was shorter but the next one will be longer :)</p><p>In the next chapter, Hope will talk to everybody about their relationships, as in who they were to each other.</p><p>Let me know what you think :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. 'Oh Do Tell!"</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hope talks to the group about their individual friendships and connections and what they all were to each other.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>{Warning: This does include Handon stuff just because it made more sense to the plot. I am not a Handon shipper!}</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They all made their way through the school and Hope seemed to lead the way. It felt natural the way that they all marched along behind her towards Dr. Saltzman's office. She even knew the spell to open the room. Not even the twins knew it, they just siphoned it away every time.</p><p>They all re-arranged themselves on the surrounding chairs and couches.</p><p>"So..." Lizzie drawled impatiently, "were we friends?"</p><p>"And here was me thinking you had evolved Lizzie," Hope said sarcastically, referring to when Lizzie had seemed genuinely sorry for nicknaming her 'the great evil's spawn'.</p><p>"Rude!" Lizzie said with narrowed eyes.</p><p>"Anyways," Hope said, giving Lizzie a mischievous smile, "We were friends..."</p><p>"And...?" Lizzie inquired.</p><p>"Well lets not get ahead of ourselves here," Hope said, knowing that this would infuriate Lizzie to no end, "let's start with you three." She motioned towards where Kaleb, MG, and Rafael were sitting.</p><p>They all visibly gulped and Lizzie looked like she was close to cursing Hope but she didn't really pay her any mind.</p><p>"So, Kaleb, you're the easiest," Hope started, "we were acquaintances, I didn't really know you."</p><p>"That would explain why I'm not really having any mental blanks," Kaleb replied with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders, signaling to her that she could move on to MG.</p><p>"MG," Hope started, fixing him with a look, "We were friends... I think... I never really know with you, you're nice to everyone so I don't know if you were just being a good person or if we were friends but I'd like to say we were friends."</p><p>"You seem cool so I'd say we were friends," MG said with a bright smile. She just nodded and returned his smile.</p><p>"Raf, we were friends, definitely friends, I mean I literally taught you the proper etiquette for when you were Lizzie's escort to the twin's sixteenth."</p><p>Raf's eyes widened and he shook his head, and Lizzie piped up again, "I was wondering who taught him, considering he was new," Hope just nodded, but Lizzie apparently wasn't done, "So what about me? You said we were friends?"</p><p>"So Landon..." Hope said, redirecting her attention from Lizzie to him. She could practically see the smoke blowing out of her ears. However, she then realized what talking to Landon would entail, so she backtracked, "actually wait no, you're harder..." She thought for a second before spinning around in her chair to face Dr. Saltzman behind his desk.</p><p>Landon looked mildly confused at why their dynamic would be difficult to explain but stayed silent none the less. Lizzie looked like she wanted to punch something but Josie held her back, only just about managing to stifle her own laughter.</p><p>"So Dr. Saltzman..." Hope started, "You're the closest thing I have to a father," His eyes shot out of his head but they then softened and fixed her with a kind look, "You're my mentor, you trained me in fighting and in magic. I mean for years you were literally my only friend at the school if you could count your mentorship and a friendship that is, but yeah. That's about it."</p><p>He looked like he had many, many questions but he knew that in the next few days while they searched for a way to bring back everybody's memories of this girl, they would get to know each other more, or re-get to know each other.</p><p>Josie spun around finally looking at the twins.</p><p>"Josie," Hope started, deciding to address her first, "Before Landon and Raf came to this school and before I got closer with MG, for years you were the closest thing I had to a friend. And even when the others did come along," She motioned towards the boys strewn across the chairs, "you were the best friends I had. Well you and Lizzie that is," Hope added, finally glancing over at Lizzie before bringing her attention back to Josie whose brows were furrowed together in concentration as if she was trying to absorb each and every piece of information Hope gave her.</p><p>"I mean you even had a crush on me when you were 13," Hope exclaimed, chuckling at the way Josie's eyes widened, "And come to think of it... I also had a crush on you at the same time but that's beside the point." Hope added as if it was an afterthought.</p><p>Josie's eyes somehow got wider and she could hear Dr. Saltzman attempt to stifle a laugh behind her.</p><p>"Why didn't you two ever get together?" Lizzie asked.</p><p>Hope laughed loudly and threw her head up in the air, leaning back in her chair, "Well that's a long story," Hope said, looking mildly amused.</p><p>"Oh do tell..." Lizzie exclaimed excitedly.</p><p>Hope paused for a moment, wondering if she should save Josie from the embarrassment but before she had made a decision, Josie herself spoke up.</p><p>"This isn't going end well for me is it?" She asked, seeming to have read Hope's thoughts.</p><p>"Not really, no," Hope said chortling, "But it is kind of important too. I mean it's the reason why it took us," She motioned between herself and Lizzie, "A decade to become friends."</p><p>Lizzie sat up taller in her seat, "Oh now I simply must know!"</p><p>"You also don't come off wonderfully in this story Lizzie," Hope said but Lizzie just shrugged.</p><p>"I don't in most stories," Lizzie said simply, causing Hope to laugh.</p><p>"Okay then, so, do you remember that Spring Break when you were both thirteen?" Hope asked and they both nodded, "Do you remember why you didn't go on it?" They both nodded again.</p><p>"You mean how Josie started a random fire in one of the empty rooms?" Lizzie asked, smirking slightly at the blush covering Josie's cheeks, "How could I forget?"</p><p>"Do you remember why you started it?" Hope asked curiously, tilting her head to the side.</p><p>"No, I have no idea!" Josie exclaimed, "I don't know what came over me... But I'm assuming you do?"</p><p>Hope nodded, a smug grin overtaking her face as she started to explain, "You see when Josie had a crush on me," Hope said, pointing a finger directly at Josie who seemed to curl in on herself in embarrasment, "She wrote me a letter and slipped it under my door the morning before you left for your spring break trip."</p><p>"What was in it?" Lizzie asked, looking for an opportunity to embarrass Josie even further - because that's what good sisters do.</p><p>"I don't know," Hope said, smirking in Josie's direction, "I never got to read it. Which - might I add -was rather unfortunate considering the fact that I liked you back."</p><p>Hope chuckled bemusedly, her mind spinning into little scenarios of what exactly would have happened if she had gotten to read the letter before Lizzie interrupted her little mind dive.</p><p>"What do you mean you never got to read it?" Lizzie asked, "If you liked her why wouldn't you have read it?"</p><p>"Well, I would have if she didn't burn it to a crisp!" Hope exclaimed with laughter, "You see, Josie here had a little, actually big gay panic moment when she put the note underneath my door."</p><p>Josie's eyes widened and she seemed to put the pieces together. Hope thought she might have even heard a cute little 'oh no' coming from her direction.</p><p>"She realized she didn't really want me to read the note anymore so she did a fire spell underneath my door," Hope explained, still smirking over at Josie, "I think she might need to work a little on her aim because she went for the note and ended up burning up my entire room and everything inside."</p><p>"I'm so sorry!" Josie exclaimed, her eyes finally meeting Hope's despite the blush still covering her cheeks.</p><p>"Don't worry about it Jo," Hope said reassuringly, "We already did the 'sorries' and I already forgave you."</p><p>Josie smiled but Lizzie still looked confused, "What does this have to do with us taking a decade to become friends?"</p><p>"Ah..." Hope muttered under her breath, "I forgot about that part. Ummm... neither of you come off good in the rest of the story, do you really need me to tell you again?"</p><p>They both nodded and Hope sighed, "Okay then. I'll bite."</p><p>"When Josie had a crush on me, you made some comment about her being obsessed with me, she really didn't want you to find out about her crush on me so she just said 'why would I be obsessed with someone who said such mean things about my twin', those mean things being that I told the entire school about you're first episode and that I called you 'witch bi-polar', which for the record, I didn't do."</p><p>Hope paused for breath but Lizzie intervened, "She didn't want me to know because I always go after her crushes right? I do remember parts of this conversation after we defeated the mummy, I just don't remember you being a part of it."</p><p>"Yeah, that about sums it up. It drove a wedge between the two of us," She motioned between herself and Lizzie, "But after we talked, that day, we became friends."</p><p>Lizzie and Josie smiled up at her, Josie looked like she was about to apologize again but Hope stopped her.</p><p>"You don't need to say sorry Jo, for the record I thought that your little gay panic moment was cute."</p><p>Josie just blushed a little and smiled up at her. The three of them - Hope, Josie, and Lizzie - just sat there smiling at each other for a long time before someone broke the silence.</p><p>"What about me?" Landon asked, "What were we to each other?"</p><p>Hope looked up at him and wondered how best to approach this.</p><p>How exactly do you go about telling the love of your life that they are the love of your life when they already know that they are the love of your life but forgot they are the love of your life? Not even Reality TV could prepare her for this.</p><p>Landon just kept looking at her expectantly, waiting for an answer but she was struggling to string together a sentence.</p><p>"Well we were... we are... I don't really know..." She trailed off.</p><p>"Spit it out will you?" Lizzie exclaimed as helpful as ever. Hope shot her a death glare but Lizzie just shrugged, so Josie elbowed her in the ribs.</p><p>"Well we were dating I guess? Well no, you're my boyfriend... I mean I'm your girlfriend... I mean we are a couple. Yes, we are dating... well were dating... I mean I hope we still are considering the last time I saw you I told you I loved you-"</p><p>She realized she was rambling and suddenly cut herself off. When she looked up she saw everybody's shock clear on their faces, but non more evident than on Landon's.</p><p>"Did I say it back?" Landon asked tentatively.</p><p>"You did," Hope said with a nod.</p><p>Landon smiled brightly and he seemed to be mentally patting himself on the back.</p><p>"Wait, you fell in love with Bird Boy?" Lizzie exclaimed, "really?"</p><p>Hope just looked at her bemusedly, "Got a problem with that?"</p><p>"Yes! I mean you're you and he's... well... he's a fricking bird!"</p><p>Hope laughed openly and Landon did too, "A bird that got the most beautiful girl in the school!" Landon said, not seeming to care about any of Lizzie's insults anymore.</p><p>"So you're saying you only like me for my looks?" Hope teased with a glare at which Landon seemed to falter.</p><p>"No, I didn't mean-"</p><p>"Relax, I'm just joking, you've given the romantic speeches about how amazing I am many times and as much as I love to hear them, here is not the place." Hope chuckled.</p><p>"Him, romantic?" Lizzie questioned with one eyebrow raised.</p><p>"You heard it yourself Lizzie, I can be very romantic," Landon exclaimed proudly.</p><p>"Oh please, you don't even remember any of it-"</p><p>But then Lizzie was cut off by a loud beep coming from a device on Alaric's desk.</p><p>"Monster?" Hope questioned and Alaric nodded. Hope clapped her hands together as she stood up, "Welp, this was a lovely talk but I feel like we should maybe go and kill whatever the hell that thing is. You two," Hope gave Landon and Lizzie a look, "can get back to your bickering later."</p><p>"Your right Hope," Lizzie said, first to stand up in the group after Hope, "it's hero time!"</p><p>"Still riding that wave?" Hope asked with a chuckle.</p><p>Lizzie just nodded, "Still riding that wave," She confirmed.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for reading, let me know what you thought :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. 'Let Me Do My Thing'</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>They hear a monster coming and Hope rushes to go defend everybody against it.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This one a bit shorter again, sorry. I just couldn't seem to get into the flow of it today but I hope you enjoy anyway :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Him, romantic?" Lizzie questioned with one eyebrow raised in Landon's direction.</p><p>"You heard it yourself Lizzie, I can be very romantic," Landon exclaimed proudly.</p><p>"Oh please, you don't even remember any of it-"</p><p>But then Lizzie was cut off by a loud beep coming from a device on Alaric's desk.</p><p>"Monster?" Hope questioned and Alaric nodded. Hope clapped her hands together as she stood up, "Welp, this was a lovely talk but I feel like we should maybe go and kill whatever the hell that thing is. You two," Hope gave Landon and Lizzie a look, "can get back to your bickering later."</p><p>"Your right Hope," Lizzie said, first to stand up in the group after Hope, "it's hero time!"</p><p>"Still riding that wave?" Hope asked with a chuckle.</p><p>Lizzie just nodded, "Still riding that wave," She confirmed.</p><p>They all match out of the room with Alaric unnecessarily pushing them out of the way to take the lead. Both ope and Lizzie rolled their eyes at the movement but followed behind him none the less.</p><p>They walked through the halls and through the back doors of the school towards the woods with both Landon constantly side-eyeing Hope but she pretended not to notice.</p><p>As they left the building, they heard a roar come from their left, and before the others could stop her, Hope started running into the woods. Lizzie and Alaric attempted to catch up with her but it was no use. MG, Kaleb, and Rafael, who could have gone after her didn't really know what to do and just watched her runoff. Josie on the other hand siphoned magic from her talisman and put a barrier spell up around Hope to stop her from going any further.</p><p>Hope turned around with wild eyes, ready to tear the head off of whomever just cast the spell.</p><p>"Hey, put this down right now or I swear I'll-" and then her eyes landed on Josie and she instantly cut herself off. She was looking right at the talisman in Josie's hand. Her eye went wide, and when they lifted up and met Josie's, they were no longer filled with anger, instead, they were soft. There was also something else there, but nobody could really read it.</p><p>"You still wear it," Hope said, voice tinged with surprise. She sounded a lot softer compared to a second ago when the whole of Mystic Falls could have heard her.</p><p>"What?" Josie asked with a shake of the head, deciding to ignore what Hope had just said, "where the hell do you think you're going? You can't fight whatever that thing is on your own."</p><p>Hope didn't even hear Josie's last question, "You still wear it," Hope repeated.</p><p>"Hope, that's not the point! What are you doing?" Josie was yelling now, trying to snap Hope out of her daze but it seriously wasn't working.</p><p>"The talisman," Hope said in a soft tone, "You still wear it."</p><p>Josie seemed to finally let Hope's words sink in and she looked down at the necklace in her hand. She was still a little annoyed at Hope, but she couldn't stop herself from asking, "Of course I wear it, why wouldn't I?"</p><p>"I gave it to you," Hope said dumbly, "It was a gift for your 16th birthday."</p><p>"Oh," Josie let out in a simple squeak, she had worn it since summer started. She realized that she must have worn it to fill a 'Hope shaped void'. Maybe it subconsciously reminded her of it.</p><p>If this was a ploy to distract her it was certainly working because Josie was no longer thinking about Hope ready to dive headfirst into danger. But Hope seemed to be in a similar state to her.</p><p>Their daze was broken when Lizzie finally spoke up, "So are we going to address the fact that Hope was about to go kill herself or what?"</p><p>Hoppe instantly narrowed her eyes at Lizzie, "Well I did jump into Malivore and make it out alive so I think I can handle whatever monster they throw at me."</p><p>"That's not the point," and this time it had been Josie who spoke up.</p><p>"Listen, Josie, I know you don't remember this but I'm normally the done that does all of the... well this" She motioned towards the woods where the monster was, "around here, so let me do my thing."</p><p>Alaric didn't seem too sure about having a student take on the monster, "I can't let you do that Hope," he said, shaking his head.</p><p>"You've literally done it a million times before Dr. Saltzman," Hope said with a bit of a chuckle, "who exactly do you think killed the Dragon? Who do you think helped Josie kill the Gargoyle - and might I add, taught her the spell to do so. Along with the Arachne, the headless huntsman and the night hag!"</p><p>Everybody's eyes widened at the realization that they had no clue who had defeated all of these monsters. It led them all to the singular conclusion that Hope was telling the truth. That she was the one that fought all of the monsters.</p><p>Alaric let out a frustrated huff, "Fine, go 'do your thing'" He said with a wave of his hands.</p><p>"Well, in case you forgot," She hammered on thin air and was met with an invisible barrier, "Someone has a little spell up."</p><p>Josie instantly took down the spell and Hope gave her a quick smile before running into the woods without a word to them.</p><p>Despite knowing that she could handle herself, they all followed her, faces full of worry.</p><p>By the time they made it to where Hope was, she was in full-on battle with a wolf-like creature. They found her in a small clearing in the middle of the woods and she was using her entire body weight to throw the monster from tree to tree.</p><p>The twins were intending on helping Hope, but upon arriving at the scene, they realized that Hope was being serious before, she didn't need any help from them. She could take care of herself just fine.</p><p>She swung the creature on last time into another tree branch and impaled the creature. Josie almost felt bad for it considering how Hope was overpowering it.</p><p>They watched as the monster, limp against the branch stuck right through its chest lost consciousness. Hope shot one last fire spell at it and it disintegrated into mere ash and embers.</p><p>They all stood there while Hope flicked the hair out of her face and looked up at them.</p><p>Suddenly, Lizzie burst into a round of applause, "oh whatever would we have done without you?" she drawled sarcastically.</p><p>"Oh shut up!" Hope said, the wide smile on her face giving away the fact that she clearly wasn't mad at Lizzie in the slightest, "If I wasn't here, <strong>at least</strong> three of you would have ended up dead."</p><p>"Oh, that might be a little out there!" Lizzie said, a matching smirk on her face, "No more than two."</p><p>"That's only because Landon would come back to life!" Hope shouted across at Lizzie, taking a step towards them, then looking at Landon, "No offense."</p><p>He just chuckled and shrugged, "None taken."</p><p>"Well now that's sorted," Alaric said with a clap of his hands, "It's long past curfew. Get to bed."</p><p>Hope looked up down at her watch and realized it was now 1 o'clock in the morning. She had already been there for 7 hours including the time she had spent as a wolf.</p><p>Time flies when you have to explain your entire life story to people who've forgotten that you exist.</p><p>__</p><p>As they all made their way back to school, Hope suddenly remembered about her final call to Alaric. She caught up to him, from the back of the group and spoke to him.</p><p>"Where exactly am I supposed to sleep?" She asked, "You emptied out my room."</p><p>"How did you know that?" He asked, peering his head down to her.</p><p>"I asked you to," She said simply.</p><p>He seemed to accept the answer as he yawned. His voice came out a bit muffled as he said, "You can sleep with Josie and Lizzie for the time being."</p><p>She just nodded, not that he could see it in this light anyway. She took a deal breath and asked the question that had been eating her up on the inside, "Can you get the memories back?"</p><p>Alaric fixed her with a soft look that she couldn't see, "I think so. Every spell has a loophole right? It's just a matter of finding it."</p><p>She nodded and accepted his answer, "Okay."</p><p>She knew they would get their memories back. Somewhere, written in some book in an ancient language was a spell that would bring back their memories of her and they were going to find it. She knew they would.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>thanks for reading, let me know what you think :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. 'I'm Glad You're Back'</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hope, Josie and Lizzie go back to their room and get ready for bed.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As they all made their way back to school, Hope suddenly remembered about her final call to Alaric. She caught up to him, from the back of the group and spoke to him.</p><p>"Where exactly am I supposed to sleep?" She asked, "You emptied out my room."</p><p>"How did you know that?" He asked, peering his head down to her.</p><p>"I asked you to," She said simply.</p><p>He seemed to accept the answer as he yawned. His voice came out a bit muffled as he said, "You can sleep with Josie and Lizzie for the time being."</p><p>She just nodded, not that he could see it in this light anyway. She took a deal breath and asked the question that had been eating her up on the inside, "Can you get the memories back?"</p><p>Alaric fixed her with a soft look that she couldn't see, "I think so. Every spell has a loophole right? It's just a matter of finding it."</p><p>She nodded and accepted his answer, "Okay."</p><p>She knew they would get their memories back. Somewhere, written in some book in an ancient language was a spell that would bring back their memories of her and they were going to find it. She knew they would.</p><p>As they arrived at the front door, Alaric bid them all goodnight and walked off to his office, trusting that they would all head back to their rooms.</p><p>"Where are you sleeping?" Josie asked, "Who was your roommate."</p><p>"I didn't have a roommate," Hope said, she was pretty confident she had been the only student who hadn't had one, "And maintenance cleared out my room before I went into Malivore so all my stuff is gone."</p><p>Josie nodded and repeated the question that Hope hadn't answered, "So where are you sleeping?"</p><p>"Oh, with you and Lizzie. If that's okay?" She rushed to add.</p><p>"Yeah, of course, I'll just sleep in Josie's bed and you can take mine," Lizzie said as they started walking towards the room.</p><p>"Ah, Lizzie, ever the selfless one!" Hope drawled with a cheeky grin on her face, sarcasm dripping from her voice.</p><p>"I know right! My kindness knows no bounds," Lizzie exclaimed, a matching grin on her face, "You get me so well. This must be why we were friends!"</p><p>"Yeah, no blackmail involved," Hope joked, earning a muffled snort from Josie's direction. Lizzie just scoffed and shook her head as she opened the door to their room.</p><p>The twins started getting ready for bed as she just awkwardly stood there, not really knowing what she was supposed to do. Finally, Josie took notice of her quietly shifting on her feet, quite literally twiddling her thumbs and spoke up, "Do you want to take a shower?" she asked kindly, motioning towards the now empty bathroom.</p><p>Hope just nodded and muttered a quick thank you as she walked in.</p><p>She found a towel and a spare toothbrush laid out for her next to the sink as she started undressing for her shower. She let the water warm up before stepping in.</p><p>She had always loved showers, they gave her time to think. Your alone with no worries of anybody interrupting you. But now, she hated it. The water was burning her skin and every time she closed her eyes, all she felt was an inexplicable emptiness, the aftermath of her time in Malivore.</p><p>She didn't bother washing her hair, she would do it tomorrow. She just couldn't stand being alone anymore. So after wetting her hair and quickly rinsing it, Hope stepped out of the shower, grabbed her towel, and wrapped it around herself.</p><p>She quickly brushed her teeth and made a move towards the door to step outside before realizing that she was only in a towel. She quietly blushed to herself before pushing the door just the slightest bit open and calling out into the room.</p><p>"Could I maybe borrow some clothes too?"</p><p>"No." That was Lizzie.</p><p>Josie on the other hand was kinder and passed her an old band shirt and some sleep shorts. The shorts fit her well but the shirt was way too big. She couldn't really complain though, she was smaller than both of the twins.</p><p>As she stepped out of the room, she heard Lizzie laughing at her, already in bed and under the covers next to Josie. "It's nearly up to your knees!" Lizzie guffawed. Hope just gave her a stern look as she moved towards Lizzie's bed and started taking off some of the throw pillows. Admittedly, without the heels she had been wearing earlier, she was shorter, but not that much!</p><p>As she was thinking, she heard a quiet slap on Lizzie's arm from Josie, and Hope quietly smiled to herself. She pulled herself under the covers and wished that she could sleep in the same bed as the twins. She didn't want to be alone but she had caused them enough trouble as it was so she stayed quiet.</p><p>"What's the spell on the talisman?" Josie asked, after a minute of silence between them. The lights in the room were off but the bedside lamp between them was still on.</p><p>"Hmmm?" Hope questioned, not having heard Josie because she had been too deep in her own mind.</p><p>"I know there is a spell on the talisman because I always felt the magic radiating off of it," Josie explained, "I siphoned form it today to put the barrier spell up around you. What's it supposed to do?"</p><p>Hope let out a quiet 'oh', not having expected the question, "Make quiet things heard. It's how MG, Penelope, and I found you when you were buried in the cemetery."</p><p>"Thank you." Josie said softly. Very softly, it was nearly inaudible. Hope turned to Josie and found her faze directed right at her, she gave Josie a smile and Josie returned it.</p><p>"What did you get me?" Lizzie asked, ruining the little moment that the two of them were sharing.</p><p>Hope just chuckled to herself and didn't answer Lizzie's question, because she knew Lizzie wouldn't like the answer.</p><p>"What?" Lizzie questioned, "What's so funny?"</p><p>"I didn't get you anything," Hope explained, barely managing to hold back her laughter. Josie, on the other hand, was not as successful, she let out a loud snort and received an elbow in the ribs from Lizzie.</p><p>"We weren't friends then!" Hope exclaimed, her voice wavering as she tried to keep a straight face.</p><p>Josie looked over at her and her face broke into a broad grin which Hope returned. Lizzie on the other hand had a hand over her chest and her jaw dropped, feigning offense to what Hope had said.</p><p>"And to think I was starting to like you!" Lizzie said.</p><p>"Oh, you already liked me!" Hope pointed out with an eyebrow raised in Lizzie's direction. But before Lizzie could respond, Josie butted in.</p><p>"You know," She started, "You are a literal stranger to both of us and yet this feels so normal. The most normal I've felt all summer," she admitted, "I mean I don't remember you but I still feel comfortable with you and I feel like there are memories just waiting to surface."</p><p>"I get what you mean," Lizzie said, completely ignoring what she and Hope had been bickering about earlier, "I don't remember what it was like when you were here but it's been weird without you. I'm glad to have you back."</p><p>The corners of Hope's mouth twitched upwards, "I'm glad to be back." she admitted before they all drifted off to sleep.</p><p>__</p><p>As soon as she closed her eyes and fell asleep she was consumed by darkness. All-consuming darkness that was far more overwhelming than what she had felt in the shower.</p><p>She opened her eyes in the nightmare, expecting for sunlight, for anything, but it made no difference whether her eyes were open or not. Either way, there was only darkness.</p><p>As she stood up, she could feel herself beginning to hyperventilate. She was sweating profusely and as her panic started to overwhelm her, she completely forgot that she was dreaming and thought that she was back in Malivore.</p><p>She started to run, not knowing what direction she was going and as she did so, she couldn't even feel herself moving. Her surroundings stayed the same no matter how far she ran. Never-ending darkness.</p><p>As she continued to run, she felt hot tears stream down her face. She suddenly stopped running and curled up into a little ball on the floor. Shaking and crying and screaming out into the darkness, waiting for someone to come and save her.</p><p>She thought that nobody would until she heard a voice. It was very muffled and she couldn't quite make out the words but she could hear the voice. It sounded feminine and she tried to concentrate on it.</p><p>She managed to slow her breathing and listen to the words.</p><p>"Hope," the voice spoke, "Hope, wake up!"</p><p>The voice kept chanting the same words and they got progressively louder and louder.</p><p>And after a while, Hope finally followed the order. She woke up.</p><p>__</p><p>When she woke up, she found herself in a pool of sweat, with tear-stained cheeks. Lizzie and Josie were both hovering over her, wearing matching concerned looks on their faces.</p><p>She felt the pool of sweat evaporate with a snap of Lizzie's fingers before they both engulfed her in a hug. </p><p>She started balling into one of their shirts, she wasn't sure whose but she was sure that it was going to be ruined. Whoever's shirt it was, they didn't seem to mind.</p><p>They stayed that way for a long time. She wasn't sure how long, but it was long enough for her to calm down and get out one small squeak of a word; 'Malivore'.</p><p>It was enough of an explanation for the two girls and they just hugged her harder. Their arms were firm around her and she felt as if they were her link to reality, the thing pulling her back from the edge and the only thing stopping her from breaking down again.</p><p>Without another word, they both climbed under the sheets and lay beside her, still holding her tightly.</p><p>"We're here Hope," Josie whispered softly into her ear.</p><p>Hope didn't respond but she nodded into Josie's shoulder and guessed that was enough for the younger girl because she released a contented sigh and buried her face into the crook of Hope's neck.</p><p>They fell asleep that way, the three girls tangled together. </p><p>Hope slept much better this time. She didn't dream at all and when she woke up, she felt okay. She felt normal. Because she was with the twins. They made her feel safe.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for reading, I enjoyed writing this chapter. Let me know what you think :)</p><p>The nightmare about Malivore is really something I thought they should have done in the show, it's kind of unrealistic that Hope wouldn't have had any after-effects of spending 2 months there.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. 'It's Okay To Fall Apart A Little'</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Over the few days they do research to find a way to get everybody's memories back.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They stayed that way for a long time, tangled together in a many-armed hug. She wasn't sure for how long, but it was long enough for her to calm down and get out one small squeak of a word; 'Malivore'.</p><p>It was enough of an explanation for the two girls and they just hugged her harder. Their arms were firm around her and she felt as if they were her link to reality, the thing pulling her back from the edge and the only thing stopping her from breaking down again.</p><p>Without another word, they both climbed under the sheets and lay beside her, still holding her tightly.</p><p>"We're here Hope," Josie whispered softly into her ear.</p><p>Hope didn't respond but she nodded into Josie's shoulder and guessed that was enough for the younger girl because she released a contented sigh and buried her face into the crook of Hope's neck.</p><p>They fell asleep that way, the three girls tangled together. </p><p>Hope slept much better this time. She didn't dream at all and when she woke up, she felt okay. She felt normal. Because she was with the twins. They made her feel safe.</p><p>__</p><p>Hope woke up before the twins. She was sued to waking up at the crack of dawn for her training with Alaric so when she woke up, she started making a move to sit up and go get ready before she felt hands holding her back.</p><p>She looked down in surprise and found both twins on either side of her. The memories of last night came rushing back to her and she allowed herself - for the second time - to melt into their arms. She flopped back down on the bed and let them hold her for another half hour until they both woke up too.</p><p>Josie woke up before Lizzie and wore a confused expression that Hope was sure she had worn when she initially woke up before recognizing Hope and smiling at her.</p><p>"How did you sleep?" Josie asked softly, her voice a little croaky from having just woken up.</p><p>"Much better this time," Hope said, looking away, feeling a little embarrassed at having let herself fall apart in front of the two girls.</p><p>Lizzie stirred beside the two before Josie could comment on Hope's shift in mood. Lizzie, as it turns out, was not a morning person. The first thing she did in the morning was screaming loudly into her pillow before opening her eyes and seeing a random auburn-haired girl beside her. Lizzie proceeded to push Hope away from her which, in turn, knocked her and Josie completely off of the bed.</p><p>Hope landed on Josie who groaned at the added weight of Hope of top of her. They heard Lizzie mumble a few quick 'sorry's' but the blonde made no move to help them off of the ground. Instead, she curled up in the blankets.</p><p>Hope quickly rolled off of Josie and stood up off the floor, offering her hand to Josie. Josie took her hand and pulled herself up, giving Hope a quick smile.</p><p>"Do you want to go get breakfast?" Josie asked.</p><p>"No." Lizzie moaned into her pillow.</p><p>"I'd love to," Hope said in a fake cheery voice earning a grin from Josie and a pillow from Lizzie.</p><p>"Can you like... disappear again?" Lizzie grumbled as she got up from the bed, marching towards the bathroom, stopping at her closet along the way, and grabbing some clothes.</p><p>Once the door slammed in their faces, Hope chuckled, "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed."</p><p>"Actually," Josie commented in a sarcastic tone, "this is the most cheery she's been all summer."</p><p>"You know what? I believe that" Hope said with a tilt of the head and Josie laughed.</p><p>"Do you need something to wear again?" Josie asked, walking towards her wardrobe.</p><p>"Yes please, but maybe something smaller, I mean I know people wear oversized clothes but this is a bit much," Hope added, gesturing down to her shirt which was breaching knee level.</p><p>"Sure," Josie laughed. She rummaged through her wardrobe for a few more seconds before handing a few things to Hope, "These should fit, you can change once Lizzie is out of the bathroom."</p><p>Hope nodded and Josie's face suddenly morphed into a more serious one. </p><p>"What?" Hope asked confusedly.</p><p>"Last night, when you-"</p><p>"It was nothing," Hope cut her off, eyes not completely meeting the brunettes.</p><p>"It wasn't nothing Hope," Josie paused, waiting for Hope's eyes to fall on her own again but they didn't, so she continued, "You know it's okay to fall apart a little?"</p><p>After another heavy silence, Hope finally looked up at Josie. Josie took this as her cue to continue.</p><p>"It's harder if you keep things to yourself, trust me I'd know," Josie chuckled a bit and waited for Hope to respond, maybe even just a nod, but Hope just continued to stare into her eyes like she was in a trance.</p><p>"You don't need to tell me now. Or even tell me at all. But you do need to acknowledge when you are not okay."</p><p>Hope started into her eyes for a few more seconds before managing a little 'okay'.</p><p>"I just... I've never..." Hope stuttered, "I've always had my walls up. And I know you wouldn't remember this, but I've never... I haven't... Last night is the first time I've ever cried in front of you. The only time's anyone here has ever seen my like that, or close to that was the first time Landon died and during Miss Mystic Falls."</p><p>Josie smiled down at her, "I do the same thing, I've never been good at telling people how I'm feeling."</p><p>"I know," Hope said with a chuckled.</p><p>"It's weird how much you know about me and how little I know about you," Josie said, "I kind of feel exposed."</p><p>Hope just laughed as Lizzie walked out of the bathroom. Lizzie looked a little bit less cranky now and actually smiled at the two of them.</p><p>__</p><p>The rest of the day was rather odd. They did normal things like eat breakfast, wander around the school, but it just felt strange to be back. A good strange but strange none the less.</p><p>They spend the day diving into ancient books about Malivore and its effects, getting exited anytime anything to do with memory comes up. But they were all dead ends.</p><p>Over the next few days, the twins took it in turns sharing a bed with Hope. They didn't want her to feel alone. Hope put up a bit of a fight in the beginning but went along with them in the end because she knew that they were right.</p><p>On the third day after her arrival, Hope and Josie were sitting separated from the others during lunch when Lizzie sat down beside them with a sour look on her face.</p><p>Hope and Josie glanced at each other, knowing that they were both thinking the same thing, 'here we go again'.</p><p>"Sasha is such a bitch," Lizzie drawled while Hope and Josie just nodded along, "I swear to god, the day in 8th grade when her essay caught fire was one of the best days of my life."</p><p>Hope spat out the water she was currently drinking from laughter. A wave of memory suddenly hitting her.</p><p>"What?" Lizzie asked in a stern tone.</p><p>"I set the fire," Hope laughed openly.</p><p>Lizzie's eyes popped out of her head before she laughed too, "Is this new information, or did I know this before you nose-dived into Malivore?"</p><p>"New information," Hope informed her, "I never told you about it."</p><p>"Why?" Lizzie asked.</p><p>"Well, the topic never came up in conversation once we became friends," Hope explained casually.</p><p>"No, I mean why did you set the fire," Lizzie asked again.</p><p>"Oh, um..." Hope's cheeks started to flush, "Sasha had um, she was picking on Josie behind her back."</p><p>This time it was Josie's turn to look surprised. her eyes shot out of her head and Hope rushed to explain, not quite being able to meet either of the twin's eyes.</p><p>"You were like the only person here who was ever nice to me," She explained.</p><p>"She was nice to you or did that crush you had on her have something to do with it?" Lizzie inquired, a slight smirk on her face.</p><p>"Maybe," Hope said quietly, turning to the side before actually taking a sip of her water.</p><p>Lizzie just laughed while Josie continued to look like a shocked puppy.</p><p>"Ah, young love," Lizzie exclaimed before receiving a kick from both Hope and Josie. Hope's kick having hurt significantly more. That was definitely going to leave a bruise.</p><p>Their little banter was cut short when Alaric stormed into the cafeteria.</p><p>"I think I've got something," He explained as she walked over to Hope and the twins, "an ancient Japanese spell, we think it could work."</p><p>The three of them stood up, leaving their lunch behind as they followed him to his office. She was silently praying to herself that it would work when she felt a hand slip into hers. She looked up in surprise and found Josie standing beside her.</p><p>"It's going to work," Josie said, giving her a comforting smile. And Hope actually believed it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for all the support :)</p><p>Let me know what you thought of this one.</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. 'I Missed You'</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>They try a spell to get their memories of Hope back...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry that this chapter is two days late, I got really busy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Why?" Lizzie asked.</p><p>"Well, the topic never came up in conversation once we became friends," Hope explained casually.</p><p>"No, I mean why did you set the fire," Lizzie asked again.</p><p>"Oh, um..." Hope's cheeks started to flush, "Sasha had um, she was picking on Josie behind her back."</p><p>This time it was Josie's turn to look surprised. her eyes shot out of her head and Hope rushed to explain, not quite being able to meet either of the twin's eyes.</p><p>"You were like the only person here who was ever nice to me," She explained.</p><p>"She was nice to you or did that crush you had on her have something to do with it?" Lizzie inquired, a slight smirk on her face.</p><p>"Maybe," Hope said quietly, turning to the side before actually taking a sip of her water.</p><p>Lizzie just laughed while Josie continued to look like a shocked puppy.</p><p>"Ah, young love," Lizzie exclaimed before receiving a kick from both Hope and Josie. Hope's kick having hurt significantly more. That was definitely going to leave a bruise.</p><p>Their little banter was cut short when Dr. Saltzman stormed into the cafeteria.</p><p>"I think I've got something," He explained as she walked over to Hope and the twins, "an ancient Japanese spell, we think it could work."</p><p>The three of them stood up, leaving their lunch behind as they followed him to his office. She was silently praying to herself that it would work when she felt a hand slip into hers. She looked up in surprise and found Josie standing beside her.</p><p>"It's going to work," Josie said, giving her a comforting smile. And Hope actually believed it.</p><p>They walked into Dr. Saltzman's office together and found Dorian laying out a circle of candles.</p><p>"It's a Japanese spell," Dr. Saltzman explained, "it's used to ward off an ancient Japanese demon but the artifact used to contain it as well as the tone of the spell has similar properties to what we know about the spell that took away our memories of Hope."</p><p>"That means the twins will have to siphon from the artifact right, then they can do the spell?" Hope asked, and Dr. Saltzman nodded. It was at this point that she noticed the dead rat lying in the center of the circle of candles and realized that this must be dark magic.</p><p>"No!" She shouted before her mind could catch up to her mouth. Everybody excluding Josie wore matching bewildered expressions. Josie had just made the same connection to black magic that she had made two seconds ago and her face showed a mix of fear and panic rather than the confusion that the others wore.</p><p>"What do you mean no?" Lizzie asked point-blank, "Don't you want us to remember you?"</p><p>"Yes, I mean of course I want you to remember me, but-" She cut herself off there at the look that Josie gave her. It clearly told her that Josie hadn't told anybody about the effects that black magic had on her. Hope, however, did know. </p><p>She had seen the way that Josie's eyes lit up when she set Penelope's hair on fire. She had seen the way Josie swayed dangerously from side to side after performing the locater spell with her on Landon. She knew that Josie couldn't do the spell. </p><p>Josie obviously had no idea how Hope knew about all of this but she could tell from Hope's concerned expression that she did.</p><p>Hope thought quickly on her feet to save Josie from revealing this information, "The twins haven't done black magic before," she came up with, "they shouldn't start now just for me."</p><p>Dr. Saltzman seemed to accept her answer, as did Dorian and Lizzie.</p><p>"So what do you suggest?" Dr. Saltzman asked, clearly concerned about the twins dabbling in black magic.</p><p>"They put it in me, they siphon the magic from the artifact and put it into me," Hope said. That's what siphoners were for right? Take magic from one thing and put it into another?</p><p>"Hope-" Josie spoke up, concered but was cut off.</p><p>"I've done black magic before Josie. Don't worry it doesn't affect me," Hope explained, offering Josie a smile, hoping that Josie would understand what she was implying. <em>It doesn't affect me like it affects you. </em>She was sure that Josie had understood when Josie returned her smile and nodded.</p><p>Hope took this as her signal and moved down towards the circle of candles and kneeled down in the center as Josie and Lizzie took the artifact that Dr. Saltzman had talked about before. They took it into their hands and started siphoning. </p><p>Hope was the only one who noticed the way that Josie shivered when she started siphoning. Hope twitched slightly as if she had been intending on stopping Josie from siphoning from the artifact but managed to stop herself.</p><p>Eventually, the twin's hands stopped glowing red and recited a familiar incantation, each with a hand pressed to Hope's shoulder, transferring the magic into her.</p><p>As soon as Hope recited the incantation that Dr. Saltzman had given her, everyone in the room fell to the floor. They all landed with dull thuds and Hope immediately rushed to their sides. </p><p>She sat beside Lizzie, who had been closest to her to listen to her heartbeat. She was still alive. The wave of memories must have knocked them out, that is assuming that the spell worked.</p><p>She sat beside them for an agonizing few minutes before Lizzie stired. She woke first and quickly sat up. Josie and Alaric soon followed as well as Dorian.</p><p>Hope stood up and helped Lizzie to the floor. As she moved to go do the same with Josie, she felt Lizzie shove her in the side.</p><p>"Asshole!" Lizzie shouted at her with a slight glint in her eye, "I can't believe you actually jumped into Malivore!"</p><p>She received a punch in the arm but this time from Josie, "What the hell were you thinking?"</p><p>Hope just laughed, "We've been through this guys, you've already scolded me enough."</p><p>"But we didn't have our memories then!" Alaric piped up from behind her.</p><p>"You know I wasn't exactly expecting a thank you, but a hug might be nice," She said in an insinuating tone. Josie immediately complied and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug.</p><p>Hope instantly melted into the hug and released a breath she didn't know that she was holding as she felt another pair of arms wrap around her. She opened her eyes and saw Lizzie beside her.</p><p>They stayed that way for who knows how long before finally pulling apart. She saw a wide smile on both the twins faces as well as on Alaric and Dorians. For a split second, she thought about going to find Landon but right now, she just wanted to be with the twins.</p><p>The looks they exchanged spoke volumes and Hope couldn't help but smile.</p><p>After a few more hugs and scoldings, Hope and the twins made their way back to their room. No mention of her going back to her old room was made.</p><p>On their way back, the three of them had bright smiles on their faces as they joked around.</p><p>"Did you really had to bring up the crush thing?" Josie asked eventually with a pout that was given away by her laughter.</p><p>"That was a fundamental part of our friendship!" Lizzie exclaimed, smirking at her sister's blush.</p><p>"and it was cute," Hope pointed out, poking Josie in the arm, "Plus I never actually got the chance to tell you I had a crush on you too," Hope added as if that were an afterthought.</p><p>"We could have been a thing!" Josie exclaimed with a laugh and shake of the head, "If only I put the note under your door."</p><p>"Read my lips," Lizzie drawled, stepping between the two to open the door to their room and turning to face them, "The two of you are NEVER happening."</p><p>Lizzie then turned back around and marched in the room. Hope and Josie both gave each other a look before bursting into laughter. </p><p>Hope then moved to follow Lizzie but felt Josie's hand on her arm to pull her back. She immediately turned around to face her, a concerned expression on her face at Josie's sudden shift in demeanor.</p><p>"What-" Hope started before being cut off.</p><p>"How did you know about the black magic?" Josie asked in a curious yet serious tone, "I never told you how it affected me."</p><p>Hope thought about her answer for a second before answering. "I pay attention," she said with a smile and a slight shrug of the shoulders before walking into their room, leaving a stunned looking Josie behind her.</p><p>Josie just stood there for a few seconds before Hope came back and give her a quick tug on the arm to pull her into the room.</p><p>They spent the rest of the day in a cuddle pile on Josie's bed, joking around and laughing. They even got Dr. Saltzman to bring dinner to them because they were so caught up in conversation. </p><p>When night fell, they all lay side by side in Josie's bed like how they had done on Hope's first night back.</p><p>"I know you were here the past few days," Josie spoke into the quiet of the night, knowing the other two were still awake, "But I missed you."</p><p>Hope smiled into the crook of Josie's neck before she replied, "I missed you guys too."</p><p>She felt Lizzie hug her a little tighter from behind, and just like on her first night back, Hope felt at home with these girls. She felt safer and she felt happier when she was with them. </p><p>She had found peace and somehow knew that her father had too. He would be proud of her.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for reading, let me know what you though :)</p><p>I hope that this was a satisfying ending.</p><p>-</p><p>I'll be starting something new the in a day or two, and even though this FIC wasn't my best work ever, I still hope you read the next one when I post it :)</p><p>Also, please give suggestions on other things you might want me to write.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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